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The Texas Chainsaw Massacre

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The Texas Chainsaw Massacre is a series of horror films which depict people meeting their ends at the hands of an Ax-Crazy family in Texas, with the chainsaw-toting man known as Leatherface being the prominent deathdealer.

The films include:

The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (1974) — A group of teenagers take a road trip to investigate the possible vandalism of their grandfather's grave, ultimately coming into the grips of an insane group of murderous cannibals. One of the classic proto examples of the Slasher Genre.

The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2 (1986) — Twelve years after the events of the first film, a radio dj attempts to aid a sheriff capture the Sawyer clan, only to end up between the horrific crossfire. While panned upon release, the film has since gained a cult following.

Leatherface: The Texas Chainsaw Massacre III (1990) — A direct sequel to the original that ignores the previous film. In this installment, a new clan of cannibals terrorize travelers among the desolate Texas countryside. Intended to be the first in a new series produced by New Line Cinema, the film's poor reception stopped any further involvement in the series by the studio.

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Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Next Generation (1994) — A reboot. A group of high school kids on prom night end up in a car crash, stranding them in the woods, where they terrorized by a family of deranged psychopaths. Notable for featuring the first acting roles of future academy award winners Matthew Mconaughey and Renée Zellweger.

The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (2003) — Another reboot/remake. A group of 20-somethings on their way to mexico pick up a traumatized hitchhiker who fatally shoots herself in their car. Following their attempts to contact the authorities, they are picked off one by one by a chainsaw wielding maniac.

The Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning (2006) — A prequel to the second reboot. This film explores the origins of the iconic serial killer Leatherface and the cannibalistic Hewitt family as they terrorize a group of young adult draft dodgers.

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Texas Chainsaw 3D (2013) — Another direct sequel to the original that ignores all the other films. A young woman named Heather discovers a house in Newt,Texas that she has inherited and takes a road trip with her friends to collect. Unbeknownst to her (but knownst to us) is what waits in the basement of the old house.

Leatherface (2017) — A Prequel to the 1974 film showing the origins of a teenage Leatherface and the traumatic experiences that mold him into the legendary butcher.

The chainsaw as a murder weapon was iconic enough to become part of the Hockey Mask and Chainsaw trope in the popular culture.

This franchise provides examples of:

Alternate Continuity: Compared to other horror franchises, this one is especially snarled. Despite their numbering and some Broad Strokes connective elements between them, the sequels are not truly sequels to each other, but to the original film, then there's the reboots and prequels, all of which results in a number of separate continuities:

Corrupt Hick: Leatherface and his family. They are a Big, Screwed-Up Family who are inbred, murderous cannibals. At least one source implies that other people in the community know about the family's business, and will cover for them if an outsider tries to turn to them for help. Even though Texas is outside of Appalachia and the Ozarks, the community is supposed to be made up of hillbillies.

Although it's probably less a matter of the locals wanting to cover up the depredations of the Hewitts because "they're one of us" or anything like that, and more a matter of grim survival. The locals turn a blind eye to the Hewitts slaughtering travelers and outsiders who won't be missed, and in return, they don't need to worry about their own loved ones (or themselves) being hacked up, brained, chainsawed or ground into chili.

"We don't want no Hewitt trouble."

In 3-D, a semi-reboot, a variation is played where the family is killed by an angry vigilante mob and decades later, members of said mob- including the mayor, his cop son and others- are willing to murder anyone related to the now-Sawyer clan regardless of whether they had anything to do with the killings.

Doomed by Canon: Any characters from the remake's prequel, and any from the comics set before the remake.

Subverted in the comic The Grind. The main character escapes and survives, but is framed for the murders of her friends by the Hewitts, and is stuck in an insane asylum, where she spends her days freaking out and ranting about the inbred hicks who killed everyone.

Dramatic Unmask: Averted in TCM III, and the remake (where the unmasking isn't dramatic, Leatherface just takes it off while making a new one).

The End... Or Is It?: Every film (except TCM 2, probably) ends with Leatherface and a few relatives still alive. TCM III is the straightest example.

Impersonating an Officer: Sheriff Winston Hoyt was originally Charlie Hewitt, Jr. He killed the real sheriff and stole his identity and car.

It Works Better with Bullets: There's a scene in the remake where the sadistic Sheriff Hoyt forces Morgan into sticking a gun in his mouth, under the pretense of reenacting a suicide committed earlier in the film; continually goading the obviously terrified Morgan (who doesn't know if the gun is loaded or not) into pulling the trigger Hoyt arrests him under the charge of attempted murder when Morgan tries to shoot him with the gun. Its implicated this was Hoyt's plan all along.

Meaningful Name: Leatherface's Cannibal Clan are known as the Sawyers in the original series and the Hewitts in the remake series. A "sawyer" is "one who saws things", and it also has an echo of Sawney Bean, leader of a (probably-apocryphal) cannibal clan in mediæval Scotland and partial inspiration for the family here. Hewitt, meanwhile, is a portmanteau of "hew it", which means "cut it apart". In The Next Generation, they're called the Slaughters, which needsno explanationnote The name Slaughter actually comes from the original film. In the gas station scene the sign reads W.E. Slaughter Barbecue but it's almost illegible and the name didn't catch on especially as it wasn't used in the credits.

Mummies at the Dinner Table: The family have habit of treating dead relatives as if they're still alive, going as far as turning Nubbins's corpse into a crude puppet in TCM 2.

My Car Hates Me: Most of the time its due to them being trashed by the villains, not some malfunction.

Punch-Clock Villain: Leatherface shows no sadism and kills only for food. Justified in that he is shown as mentally handicapped. His family though takes sadistic pleasure in tormenting and killing the victims. Especially Sheriff Hoyt in the remake series.

The Quisling: In the remake series the family abduct young children and raise them as their own.

The Savage South: Because the only locals who really get any characterization are all part of Leatherface's family, it gives an impression that everyone but the "outsider" is OK with the events in these films.

In Texas Chainsaw 3D, though, it's established that the townsfolk murdered the Sawyer clan after their killing spree in the first film.

Shout-Out: The poster for Part 2 shows the Sawyer family in poses similar to the cast in the poster for The Breakfast Club, while the trailer for Part 3 riffs on the Excalibur legend; specifically, the Lady of the Lake throws out a massive looking chainsaw to a nearby Leatherface, and said saw is activated by a lightning bolt.

The Voiceless: Leatherface - the only times you hear him it's when he screams or grunts.

Weapon of Choice: Sledgehammers, meat hooks, and chainsaws show up frequently, demonstrating that the family sees outsiders as nothing more than livestock to be slaughtered and consumed.

Wolverine Publicity: Leatherface is heavily featured and is the most well known character from the franchise, despite the fact that, as a developmentally-disabled, speechless man with no motivation or goals outside of blindly doing his family's bidding, he is perhaps the least interesting member of the family.

The rest of the franchise provides examples of:

Attempted Rape: The Avatar Press comics apparently liked this trope. In Special a serial rapist tries to have his way with the main character, but is killed mid-attempt when Leatherface impales him through the back with his chainsaw. In The Grind, the main character is tied to a bed so Monty can have his way with her, but she gets an arm loose, punches him unconscious, and escapes.

Death by Falling Over: One character in Fearbook meets her demise when she trips over a piglet, falls through a second story railing and hits her head on the ground, breaking her neck.

Inevitable Waterfall: Last victim in Special escapes from the lunatic Hewitts and ends up floating down a river on a tree trunk. As she promises to herself to clean up her act, she suddenly starts screaming when she comes across a waterfall. But it's not the small drop that terrifies her, it's the chainsaw-toting Leatherface, who is waiting for her at the end of it.

Town with a Dark Secret: The Wildstorm comics which act as a sequel to the remake reveal that the townspeople are fully aware of Leatherface and his family's murderous and cannibalistic tendencies, but don't do anything for fear of retribution.

Villainous Incest: In Raising Cain, the evil twin married his sister, and had a pair of twins of his own with her.

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